In 1869 single females who paid taxes were allowed to vote in public council elections, making up 15% of the total voters. This was a starting point as it gave women more political opportunities (though it excluded married women). As single females were allowed to vote in public elections this enhanced the thinking of married women to also have the opportunity to vote which concluded to a campaign for female suffrage in 1870.
By 1861, women outnumbered men in textile factories. Women’s higher image in the work force meant that a growing number of single women had to strive to be economically independent. Women’s contribution to the workforce continued to rise, but was virtually non- existent amongst the middle classes. Though not impossible, it was difficult for these women to work as it was not really acceptable for them to do so, married women’s income was the property of their husbands, and many jobs were not open to women at all. Factors that caused women’s employment to rise after 1870 included the development of chain stores and the growth of clerical work, particularly in jobs involving typing became a largely female preserve. As the availability of jobs for women were increasing and were outnumbering men in some fields of work. Women understood that they were just as equal as men which encouraged them to campaign for female suffrage in 1870.
Early telephone exchanges from the 1880s could only work with a lot of people and nearly all were women.
During the 19th century the population increased and so did the number of schools. From 1870, attendance at school became compulsory, so the demand for teachers soared. By 1900, three quarters of all teachers were women. In spite of this development, if female teachers got married they had to leave school because they now had a husband who would keep them.
Women rarely had professional jobs for the reason that they were considered to be suitable only for men; however some did enter the professions, as in the case of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Sophia Jex-Blake, who both graduated as doctors in 1866. This was a huge step for middle- class women, though their graduation was met with hostility from many men. Male doctors at Middlesex hospital issue this statement on the subject of male doctors: ‘The presence of a young female in the operating theatre is an outrage to our natural instincts and is calculated to destroy the respect and admiration with which the opposite sex is regarded.’ When the first female doctor was graduated in 1866 single women and married women valued that women can just be like men moreover the theory of men being cleverer than women is false and so enthused women to campaign for female suffrage in 1870.
Though only a tiny minority of women became professional, it made it clear that women had enough intelligence and dedication to do so providing that they were given the opportunity to.
Female suffrage became more relevant as women were representing a growing proportion of the workforce thus seems to be a greater need for their representation in politics.
Education is obviously a vital factor for women to achieve a higher status, have more understanding of the world outside the home and have better employment opportunities.
In the seventeenth century it became increasingly fashionable for girls in richer of middle-class families to be taught to read and write by a teacher at home, although schools were mainly just for boys.
In 1858 Dorothea Beale became principal of Cheltenham Ladies College. At the time the school had only a moderate reputation but under Beale's leadership it became one of the most highly regarded schools in the country. The traditional education of girls had emphasised the development of accomplishments such as music and drawing. Beale, however, was determined to provide a much more academic education. She said, ‘I wish women to be educated not so they can have power over men, but so that they can have power over themselves’, meaning that she wanted women to be able to make their own decisions and become more independent. Dorothea Beale used her success at Cheltenham Ladies College to demonstrate what a good school could achieve.
In 1870 the government made school compulsory for boys and girls under ten. At first attendance was bad, as most children had to work at home so in 1880 the government passed new laws meant that parents had to send their children to school. Giving girls a basic education gave them freedom to go into a skilled or partly- skilled job or at least although schools through a basic education girls were given a grounding which would otherwise have not been available. For those who wished to continue to further education.
Anti- suffragists had often used the excuse of women’s weak intellect as a reason for why they should not be involved in politics; however a growing number of intelligent, well-educated women disproved this argument.
The 1870 Education Act allowed women to vote and serve on School Boards, giving them more say in the system they were now part of. The Education Act was a huge factor for the development of the campaign for female suffrage in 1870 because women were now stated as equal as men. If women were allowed to vote for school boards and have their say they should also be allowed to vote for the government and also have their say. Many women thought like this and so the campaign for female suffrage in 1870 developed.
At home women achieved much greater freedom after 1870: in 1870 and 1882 the Married Women’s Property Act allowed women to keep their own property and income, this made it more possible for them to work. The Act of 1878 made it legal for a woman who was separated from her husband to claim child maintenance. In 1882 it was made illegal for a husband to force his wife to stay in his home against her will, both indirectly gave women more power after 1870.
Each law narrowed men’s power over their wives, and therefore increased married women’s independence. Introducing a law which states that a man cannot hold his wife in his house means that he does not have such ultimate power: she could come and go and she pleased (e.g. to meetings, suffrage marches, etc). As women had to rely on their husbands less and less they had more rights according to the law, and according to their right for franchise. Therefore after 1870 the campaign for female suffrage developed.
Women weren’t seen as responsible as men but these ideas were challenged when women were given more right to their own property.
More laws were introduced which gave women a greater part on the political stage. In a speech to her local constitution (1896) Mary Harding said, ‘I live and breathe politics, and those (women) who confess to not liking or understanding it can hardly be expected to be granted the vote!’ Many women grasped an understanding of politics through their growing role in constitutional politics. In 1888 elected country councils established female tax payers were allowed to vote. In 1894 elected parish, rural district and urban district councils established which women were allowed to be a part of. Female tax payers could vote and stand as candidates.
The laws and acts explained above are vital to how the Suffrage movement developed. Though these factors: education, political change, divorce, property rights and employment women were given the equal footing they required to campaign for what they believed in, and to one day achieve it. Women’s profile in society continued to improve because of a range of significant factors and developments before and around 1870. This encouraged and inspired women to campaign for female suffrage after 1870. Education was a main factor towards the campaign for female suffrage because without education it was impossible to be employed. Employment also linked with political change by giving women the right for vote over school boards. Law was also a main factor for female suffrage because the laws linked to independency. The property act allowed women to be divorced, meaning to be a property of yourself but not with a man. All these factors caused a campaign for women suffrage to develop in the years after 1870.